How was Food preserved in ancient times?

Even the earliest humans needed to develop methods to preserve their food, both because of cold seasons and because of droughts: “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe”. Genesis 12:10 And then: They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine." Genesis 41:35-37 . The preservation and safe storage of Food in Egypt had obviously been well developed and refined as we read: “There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food.” Genesis 41:54

So how exactly was the food collected during seven years of abundance for the seven years of famine? Records from 2600 B.C. show that the annual flooding of the Nile produced surpluses of grain that were stored and kept to feed builders of irrigation schemes and pyramid tombs. Ancient Egyptians employed a variety of methods for food preservation. Great silos were constructed to preserve grain for long periods of time. Fish, meat, vegetables and fruits were preserved by drying and salting. Grains were fermented to create beer. The Babylonians and Egyptians pickled fish such as sturgeon, salmon, and catfish, as well as poultry and geese and stored them for a long time.

Fish curing, depicted in the tombs of ancient Egypt, was so highly regarded that only temple officials were entrusted with the knowledge of the art, and it is significant that the Egyptian word for fish preserving was the same as that used to denote the process of embalming the dead."

During the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.) imperial kitchens grew vegetables in hothouses, so their availability was not limited by the season. In the final years of the Eastern Han Dynasty food sweetened with honey began to appear in the palace. The technique of using fermentation to make staple foods was already well known in China at this time.